So I am really trying to limit myself on what toys I buy, mainly due to scale. It has always frustrated me that in a line, characters are never to scale with each other. Recent example: I loved 2007's movie Bonecrusher, but I could never set him up with a Prime to fight. Well now I am only going with the Human Alliance toys but I really want a Prime and the Arcee triplets. Does anyone have the Human Alliance toys and Leader Class Prime? How do they look next to each other, scale accurate? Next, the Arcee that comes with Skids is much smaller than the Deluxe Arcee and Chromia; and really doesn't look like her movie image. Any thoughts/recommendations? Thanks all!
Prime is a bit short compared to the HA figures, who are about right compared to their humans, but he is tall enough. More of a problem with the animation model bringing robot parts out of nowhere to make him a decent size compared to the cons than anything.
For me personally, the Arcees and Prime are close enough to display decently with the HA toys. Sure they arn't perfect, but they are far from Bonecrusher vs Prime in 07. The HAs are a bit big compared to Prime, but they are atleast somewhat close, and Prime is a good enough figure to get by. The bikes may be a little iffy, but still look alright IMO since they are slender deluxes. That being said, I like to hide the bike sisters a bit in my collection. Not exactly the best figures no matter who you display them with. What I find strange is that the Arcee that comes with HA Skids matches more closely with the mold for Deluxe Chromia, and vice versa with the concept design of the Chromia that is going to come with Mudflap.
I'm planning to display Leader Prime, Leader Starscream, HA BB, HA Barricade, and Ravage all together. ...only ones I have right now are BB and Ravage, but A BOY CAN DREAM. Anyway, scale is quite important to me but even though Ravage is a bit too big and the Leaders a bit too small I can deal. It's not like I'd buy a bigger size than a Leader anyway.
The scaling is probably the worst with Bumblebee, but it isn't horrible. If you don't display them directly next to each other it's hard even to notice the size difference. As for the Biker Twins, I'd say go for it. I like them, and they are at the front of my ROTF shelf. They are weird, but not in a bad way.
first off scale has never been a much of a factor in any TF line so i do not much worry about it and buy what i like and display it how i wish, but that said from in store comparisons Leader prime seems to be a bit out of the scale your wanting when compared to the HA line
Thing is, the Deluxe cars are really a bit small compared to Leader Prime, and I'd rather have a great fig that's a little big than a good fig that's a little small anyway. What I would avoid doing is displaying HA BB with Voyager OP, that would look a little off. As far as "the darn toys," I'll buy what I want to buy.
I personally don't own any of the HA line, but my roomate does. This is obviously my opinion, but since I'm also a semi-scale freak who tries to buy only one version per character, I prefer the Deluxes. It all really comes down to whether you are willing to give up size for the potentially better/more fun mold. This is kind of how I view the Pros and Cons of each: HA Line: + More impressive molds + More features + They still look decent next to the Leader class characters - More expensive - Look very out of place if you put your whole movie collection on the same shelf. It bothers me when Ironhide is dwarfed by them. Deluxes: + More in scale overall + Cheaper + This is a huge matter of opinion, but being that they are more in scale I think they are more fun to fool around with. I like setting up action scenes on my shelves and what not. - Less gimmicks and cool features - For BB and Skids in particular, the HA figures are closer to the CGI models. - Not really a main concern for the time being, but since all of the characters that are in both HA and Deluxe line are still alive, they may get better molds in TF3. There is a much better chance that a character would get an improved deluxe mold over a new HA mold. As I said earlier, the main dilemma is whether you want the better mold over scale, or vice versa. For me personally, the $60 I saved on top of the scale issue was enough for me to go with the Deluxes. However, most people would disagree with me. As for the bike sisters, I can only speak for Chromia and HA Arcee. HA Arcee is pretty bad (not that you would buy the set for her anyway). Neither is in scale, but I'm going with the deluxes and just overlooking the scale factor for this one. Besides, if the line was truly in scale 90% of the Decepticons would be Leader Class and above.
Vizer- Great points, thanks! Barrelks- You mentioned the upcoming HA Mudflap... Where do you find out that info? I only ever hear about it if someone (like you) mentions it or I see it in stores; I wanna be in the know too! Thanks everyone for the replies, you all have good points and opinions. I appreciate them all!!